Leonard Skye and his experiences in Residential School

This is a brief account of Leonard Skye’s life with an emphasis on his experiences in Residential School. Len’s recollections are disturbing because his experience at Residential School was traumatizing. He experienced both physical and emotional abuse. It is important that his experiences be brought to light, so that everyone, those of both First Nations descent, and European descent, can better understand the predicament that many First Nations people find themselves today.

Leonard Skye was born on December 12, 1948 at the Dryden Hospital. His parents were from the Eagle Lake First Nation. At the age of five, he was sent to Saint Mary’s Residential School in Kenora to attend grade one. At the time, there were numerous Residential schools in the area; Pellican Falls Residential School located in Sioux Lookout, McIntosh Residential School, just north of Vermillion Bay and Cecilia Jeffry Residential School which was also located in Kenora.

Duncan Campbell Scott, who was a writer during the 1950s and later the Minister of Indian Affairs, wrote that the goal of Residential School was to remove the culture and language from the First Nations person. In more blunt terms, he wrote that the goal was to “take the Indian out of the Indian”.

To gain a better historical understanding of Residential School, it must be noted that the Rat Portage First Nation in Kenora made a formal protest during the 1920s about the living conditions and the treatment of the students at Residential School. Unfortunately, as Leonard relates, the accusations were not investigated completely and were eventually “pushed under the rug”.

There were First Nations students from as far away as the province of Quebec who attended the Residential schools here in the Northwest. Parents had no choice but to send their children to Residential School. The children were taken away from their families and put up in the boarding accommodations provided by the Residential School. Parents would come and visit their children only on occasion or when they could afford the transportation costs. As St. Mary’s Residential School was relatively close to Eagle Lake, Leonard was able to spend his summers with his parents. However, those children who came from distant homes such as Quebec were not able to visit their parents and were forced to stay in the dormitories at Residential School all summer.

A typical day in Residential School was very regimented. Every day the pupils were awoken at 5:00 am and were required to do chores for two hours. Some of the chores consisted of sweeping the dormitory and playroom, cleaning the washrooms and taking the garbage to the dump. Saturdays entailed more detailed cleaning of the assigned areas such as the playroom or the living room. According to Leonard, the goal of this structured home cleaning was to produce a cheap labour force that would have been trained to perform such menial tasks. Leonard remembers the school being very clean. Students were physically reprimanded if they did not finish their chores in the allotted time, or if the chores were not completed up to standards.

Leonard mentioned his father’s experience in Residential School. The school was located on a farm and the pupils were trained in farm work such as feeding the horses, chickens and pigs. Regularly cleaning of the animal’s stalls was also required. Furthermore, the pupils were taught to grow and tend a garden. The goal here was to produce self-sustaining farmers. But that was a failure as very few First Nations peoples today are employed as farmers. Leonard’s father did not conform and refused to perform these tasks. He simply ran away from the Residential School he was attending.

After the approximately two hour cleaning routine, Leonard explained how they were given a ten or fifteen minute break for personal hygiene. Their hands had to be clean, their finger nails cut short and clean and their hair had to be brushed. Residential School pupils who did not finish their chores or whose hygiene was not up to standard were also punished and often denied breakfast. He described one such punishment where students were made to stand against a wall for a good period of time.

Before breakfast, a roll call was performed. The pupils would stand at attention in a military format and a head count was done. This was done to ensure that all were accounted for, and no pupil had run away from the School. As Leonard recalled, breakfast usually consisted of tasteless porridge. After breakfast, students were given free time to prepare themselves for class which started at 9:00 am.

The curriculum was similar to non-Residential schools in that Mathematics and English were taught, but St. Mary’s Residential School had a very substantial emphasis on Religious studies, particularly the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. Students were expected to be pious and to follow the beliefs of the Church. Girls were taught to sew, with the idea of becoming a seamstress as an occupation. Girls were also taught other domestic duties. There was also the opportunity to learn a second or third language such as French. However, speaking Ojibway was strictly prohibited and discipline was severe if even one word of Ojibway was spoken.

Leonard remembered that bullying was tolerated at the school. The older students would bully, by name calling and punching, the younger students and those who did not do the accepted things.

Lunch was served at noon and Len recalls being served a flavourless meat pie. Students returned to the classroom at 1:00 pm for classes that continued until 4:00 pm.

From 4:00 pm until 5:30 pm was a study period for the entire school. There were tutors who would help with mathematics concepts, but who were not very understanding. They would hit and call a student names if they did not master the concepts that were taught.

There were also “boys’ keepers” in the school, who Leonard recalled as being similar to prison guards. Their role was not to support the students, but rather to keep them in line. They would often dole out physical punishment to those who did not comply with their demands.

Of particular interest was that names were not used when addressing a student. Instead, the students were assigned a number and all clothing was marked with that number using a black marker. Leonard was number thirteen and his shirt, socks and pants were marked with the number thirteen. We can easily understand the intention of addressing someone, not by their name, but by a meaningless number.

Supper hour was from 6:00 to 7:00 pm. Again, Len recalled tasteless meals.

From the 5:00 am awakening until 7:00 pm, the day was very structured and there was not a lot of choice in activities being offered. However, from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm there was the opportunity to participate and learn about an activity that interested a student. Len’s chosen activity was hockey. Len played right wing. One of the boys’ keepers was the coach. St. Mary’s hockey team was victorious in all the tournaments held in the Kenora region. One player who Len played with, Vernon Mainville from the Couchiching First Nation had a stint with the Detroit Red Wings. But when he joined the team he found himself very lonely and he returned to the Northwest. Len had an invitation to play with the Peterborough Petes but his parents could not afford to send him to southern Ontario to play with the Junior A hockey team. Len also made the NCAA hockey Minnesota Golden Gophers. But because of Len’s “poor attitude” he was released from the team. As a young man, Len felt “invincible” which often put him in conflict with those in authority.

Len attended St. Mary’s Residential School for 5 years, from grade 1 to Grade 6. After that, he attended St. Joe’s school here in Dryden. Compared to St. Mary’s, St. Joe’s was a breath of fresh air in that there was so much freedom and much less discipline. While at St. Joe’s, Len met and became good friends with Dr. Michael Cortens, Rick Makuch and Alvin Sesuinas. Len spent two years, grade seven and eight, at St. Joe’s school.

In grade nine, Len enrolled at DHS. It was difficult for Len at DHS as there were less than a dozen students of First Nations descent in the whole school. Len continued to excel in sports, particularly hockey, wrestling, and football. Weighing in at 240 pounds he was able to bench 300 pounds. Len had 20 inch biceps and a 55 inch chest. Because of physical presence Len was respected among the student body. Len graduated grade 12 in 1971 and went back an additional year to earn extra credits.

After high school Leonard experienced some personal trouble with alcohol and he attributes much of this sad time in his life to Residential School and now having the opportunity to grow up close to his parents or to play and enjoy life like most young children do.

Leonard started his studies at Lakehead University in 1983 where he studied the teaching of Native Language Studies, particularly Ojibway. He earned a specialist in Native Language Studies and became qualified to teach Ojibway Langauge from grade one to University Level. He then enrolled in the Faculty of Education Concurrent program and earned a BA and B.ED in 1990.

Leonard continued his studies in the summertime and earned his specialist in Special Education in 2007. He taught at DHS from 1990 until the present. To this day many Native and non-Native students honour Mr. Skye. Mr. Skye had a reputation of standing up for his students even if this brought him into conflict with the administration of the school.

As an educator, Leonard won the Bob Brooks Provincial award given by The Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation for his excellence in education and public relations. He was the first Ojibway to win this award. Leonard has been recognized many times regionally and locally for his work with young people both Native and non-Native.

He has also had the opportunity to be a guest of honour at some prestigious academic gatherings. He was guest lecturer at the University of Kansas and the University of Arizona. At the Duluth Minnesota Medical school, he helped to honour Dr. Arne Vana, who received a state award. Leonard had the opportunity to present her with an Eagle feather and felt honoured to speak to the staff and students.

Leonard still faces depression and anxiety, as a result of Residential School. Both Leonard and his wife Edith see themselves as Residential School survivors. They each understand what the other went through and help each other during bouts of depression and deep sadness.

Leonard has some advice to give to First Nations students of today. He recommends that they find their niche in life and live their life their own way, because no one will live it for them. The world does not stop for anyone. For Leonard, education is very important.

Attendance among First Nations children presents a challenge here at Dryden High School. Leonard attributes that to the lack of structure in the home life of these students. There have been two previous generations of First Nations people who have had their lives destroyed and they do not have the skills or knowhow to establish a structured, supportive home setting for their children. They see themselves as just climbing out of the pit of abuse that Residential school created for them.

From a historical perspective, Leonard adds that it was the First Nations people who helped prevent the early explorers from dying of starvation. It was they, who helped teach them how to survive in the bush. Also, Native peoples played an important role in fighting for Canada during the war of 1812.

Like many First Nations persons, Leonard’s experiences in Residential school are painful but he is trying to forget it and make best of his future life. Unfortunately, Residential School is a black eye to Canada’s reputation as a tolerant country. However, though Leonard’s experiences may be painful, like many First Nations persons, he is truly trying to forget it and make the best of the present.